Though an article in the Fort Myers (Fla.) News-Press strongly implied that scouts from 20 pro teams (including some from Canada) attended Sunday night’s game between the Patriots and Buccaneers to get a look-see and Tampa quarterback Chris Simms, a league source tells us that those numbers aren’t out of the ordinary.

“Every preseason game has scores of scouts at it,” the source said.  “Because that was the only game played last night it probably had a few more than usual.  Simms had nothing to do with it.  I would say there are at least 15 scouts at each preseason game.”

The source also thinks that teams are wasting their time and money by sending scouts to the exhibition contests.

“Each team gets the tape of every game within a few days of it being played, and there is no way one scout can look a more than a few players at a game.  But some traditions never seem to change.”